TCSS 3: Nubbin Juice
by Tegan's Muse
Summary: In the "Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3: Nubbin Juice" Tegan finds herself the suspect in a killing, and as the name would imply there are Nubbin pheromones loose in the Sanctuary.
1. Love, Lust and Frank

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:**  
** Nubbin Juice 1**  
** Love, Lust and Frank**

Helen sat behind her desk and to the common observer she looked like she was hard at work. Instead she was deep in thought making a list of all the reasons she couldn't fall in love. It didn't even matter who she was falling in love with. The biggest cons had nothing to do with sexuality and working conditions. No, the biggest cons had to do with opening her heart up, losing that person, and then having to carry the scars around with her for eternity. And then there was John.

He had been her first love. A true love, until he'd changed. Of course it was her fault and he never let her forget that. It was her fault because she let herself fall in love with him, and because she had discovered the source blood. The very thing that turned him into the monster he was. But she hadn't let that stop her from falling in love again, and again. And every single one of them from John on had left her hurting and alone.

"Hey Doc," Kate walked in and took a spot on the open couch.

Helen pretended to be hard at work as Tegan walked in wearing a charcoal skirt that ended an inch below her knee, and a deep cream silk shell under the matching jacket. She was wearing slightly more sensible heels than Helen would have chosen and it left Helen wondering how long it would be before she ditched the outfit for something more comfortable.

She took the open seat next to Kate, not having picked up on the fact that getting a rectal exam by a blind gorilla was preferable to sitting next to Kate; and since the guys weren't there yet she had plenty of options. Kate had a habit of hitting the couch or slapping the nearest person on the shoulder when she thought something was funny, unbelievable, or just plain cool: which pretty much covered most things. She'd been holding back on Tegan because of her shoulder, but it was completely healed now.

"Morning," Helen glanced out from under her brow as she finished gathering her notes and gave Tegan a half smile.

Tegan nodded her greeting and checked to make sure her pen would write. The day before, she went to write down an address for a pick up she and Henry were doing, and nothing came out of her pen. It would have been even more embarrassing had she not had her smart phone to type it into. "Gang's all here." Biggie announced as he followed Henry and Will into the office.

Tegan wasn't sure why they had to have Monday through Friday staff meetings. Once a week would suffice; It wasn't like they didn't all end up together at some point or other during the day not including the nightly ritual of gathering for dinner, and Helen was always around. Then again Helen was a control freak, and though she would admit it only to herself, Tegan did like seeing her every morning.

"How did the feedings go this morning?" Helen was staring at her.

Tegan blinked. "Fine. Sally didn't want to eat this morning, but I think it was just a ploy to get me to draw that picture she wants."

"No way!" Kate slapped her shoulder. "You can communicate with Sally?"

"Yeah." Tegan gave her a 'do that again and you'll loose your arm' look, but it she didn't seem to notice. "Be glad you can't."

Helen smiled. Sally had really taken a liking to Tegan. Actually, they all had, herself included.

"Everyone else did fine, and I still have all my fingers." Tegan wiggled them in the air eliciting a chuckle from Will.

"Good." Helen turned slightly in her chair and re-crossed her legs. She rarely showed more than just below the knee down to her stilettos which were often more heel than actual shoe. It was almost like a Magnus code to never to wear a skirt that came any higher than just above the knee.

Tegan couldn't help but stare; they were always so smooth and silky. She felt a rather abrupt nudge from Kate, as she leaned in and whispered loudly. "Man, you just totally zoned out. Magnus asked you a question."  
She lifted her eyes to see an amused smirk on Helen's face. A blush started to creep unbidden up her neck. "I'm sorry."

"I need your help with an intake today. He's a little, how can I put this delicately – touchy feely."

"That means he's a grabby groper." Kate leaned into Tegan this time not even attempting to whisper.

Tegan wondered if Kate was just being Kate, or if there was any credence to what she said. She looked at Helen and nodded. "What time?"

"He should be here around two. You can show him around the guest quarters and canteen. Then we can meet up here to do his intake interview unless I find him an unsuitable match for this Sanctuary. I am still trying to track down information on his particular species."

For some reason Helen's Sanctuary, which was really considered the main Sanctuary, didn't have as many free roaming residents as some of the others. Tegan wasn't sure why unless it had to do with less staff and higher workload.

At two o'clock sharp the doorbell rang and Tegan's heels clacked on the marble floor, echoing through the foyer as she approached. She pushed the large wooden door open to reveal what looked like a man in a suit and trench coat despite the warm weather, and a pair of sunglasses. Had it not been for the deep maroon scales covering his face, he would have looked like a door-to-door vacuum salesman meets 'Men in Black.'

"You must be…" Tegan realized Helen didn't give her a name, or if she did she'd been too lost in her inspection of sleek legs to catch it. "Our two o'clock appointment? I'm sorry I don't know your name."

"I am," he pulled off his dark shades revealing bright yellow eyes. A bright red wet tongue darted over his lips. "Frank. And you are?"

Frank, such an unassuming name, Tegan thought as she stepped back allowing him entrance. "Dr. Kiser."

"What species are you?" His tongue came out again, this time lingering on his lower lip longer then necessary as she closed the door.

"Human." She stated as a matter of fact, while refusing to react when she felt his eyes burning her flesh as he memorized the lines of her body.

He laughed languidly in disbelief. "I've never had a human before."

Tegan wondered briefly if his penis was covered in the same maroon scales as his face was, if he even had one. The thought was enough to make her stomach churn. "This way, shall we?"

"After you," He smiled.

Tegan was suddenly wishing she'd changed into slacks and boots after Kate's 'grabby groper' comment. But despite the warnings she'd received and her own uneasiness, Frank never touched her. She'd caught him breathing heavily and staring at clothed body parts a little too long and hard, but that was all.

They met Helen as they stepped out of the elevator on the way to her office. Bigfoot was standing beside her. "I was just coming to find you. I'm sorry Frank, but after further review of your information, we just can't house you here. I do have a nice habitat for you in our New York Sanctuary if you're interested."

"Eyes up." Biggie grunted as Frank stared at Helen's ample cleavage.

"I think I'm going to pass." He looked back at Tegan's chest and sighed.

"My friend will show you out." Helen watched as Biggie escorted him back into the elevator.

"What was that about?" Tegan asked as the doors to the elevator slid shut.

"He has x-ray vision and he knew New York meant he'd be behind walls that he couldn't see through with a special glass front preventing him from using his talents." Helen let her eyes drop to Tegan's chest briefly before bringing them back up. "I only just found out."

Tegan nodded, disgust gracing her features briefly as it all sunk in. "I'm going to go take a shower."

Helen nodded with a small smirk.


	2. Closed Circuit TV

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 2  
Closed Circuit TV**

The next morning Tegan was sitting in a winged back chair in Helen's office dressed more appropriately for just about anything the day may throw at her, except maybe encountering an abnormal with x-ray vision. Of course she hoped she didn't have to do anymore intakes like Frank ever again. She absently brushed at a loose thread that was sticking to her jeans through the wonder of static electricity. She let her eyes drift around the room until they landed on Helen.

She wanted to touch her, to taste her skin, to gaze upon her beautiful body, to hear her moan in ecstasy. Tegan shook her head; she hadn't felt that way about anyone since – she refused to think her name. It had been a long time, and even then it hadn't started with feelings quite like this. Sure there had been similarities. Helen made her heart race and stand perfectly still all at the same time. She tingled with electricity anytime they would touch, which seemed to be happening with more frequency and often times it was initiated by Helen. But right now she just wanted to rip her clothes off and – she realized Helen was looking at her expectantly.

She swallowed when she realized someone had asked her a question and she had completely zoned out, again. "I'm sorry?"

"I just wanted to know if you had anything to add about last night's mission." Helen eyed her with a mix of curiosity and concern twinkling in her eyes.

It had just been a routine tag and bag, or as routine as capturing an abnormal and bringing it back to the Sanctuary could be.

"No." Tegan shook her head. She'd always been on the ball at staff meetings and this was the second one in a row that she had let her mind wander. She silently berated herself for the slip.

As soon as the meeting ended Tegan jumped to her feet and headed for the hall.

"Is everything ok?" Helen asked before she could get out the door.

"Yeah." Tegan turned to her. "I just…"

"What?" Helen stepped toward her.

"I think I need to try and get a little more sleep." Tegan spun on her heel and retreated to her lab.

"Dude!" The following morning Henry walked into the infirmary to see Tegan sitting on the exam table with her lower right leg propped up on her left knee so she could get to the laceration. She had a surgical needle and thread in hand with no Lidocaine in sight. "You are so not going to stitch that up yourself."

"Sure I am." She started before he could look away.

"Magnus can do it." He stared off into the corner and took a deep breath.

"Oh no. This," she looked at him and then to her leg that had been lacerated during a mission gone south, "stays between us. Got it?"

He looked at her. "Did you just flash your eyes at me? You do know I'm not afraid of that, right? You wouldn't hurt a puppy."

"If you mention this to Magnus, you'll find out just what I can hurt. That little hall incident with Nikola will seem like a wet dream compared to what I can do to you."

He made the motion of locking his lips and throwing away the key. "You'd better not let Magnus catch you throwing around the glowy eyes."

"What glowy eyes?" She smiled defiantly.

* * *

Tegan sat there holding the fork in a piece of chicken that was still on her plate as she stared at Helen glassy eyed. Helen looked up as she took another bite of her crusty dinner roll. She chewed the bread carefully while gazing back at Tegan. It was just the two of them. Biggie had eaten a late lunch and was in the TV room. Henry and Will had gone to check out a new burger joint in New City, and Kate had scored a date.

Helen swallowed. "A penny for your thoughts."

"Huh?" Tegan blinked and furrowed her brow.

"You looked lost in thought."

"I was," She nodded.

"A penny for your thoughts." Helen repeated.

"They aren't even worth a ha' penny."

"Missing home?"

"No." Tegan didn't hesitate, but paused after responding to reach for her water glass. "That's a bad thing, isn't it? I mean I should be missing home and desperately wanting to get back despite not being able to. I sometimes feel guilty that I'm not."

"I don't think you should feel guilty; it's been four months." Helen sat her fork on the edge of her plate and turned all of her attention to Tegan. "It's healthy to move on."

"But…" Tegan sighed, she didn't know how not to let the guilt eat at her. "Every since I had that dream, where she said goodbye, she's been slipping away. They all have. I can't remember what they sound like, or recall exactly what they look like anymore. I can't even remember…"

"What she smells like?" Helen finished for her. She understood, she'd lost lovers, outlived friends and had a daughter who was both murdered and gave herself up for the greater good to save her mother and her cause. Tegan nodded letting her eyes fall away from Helen's.

"You asked if I thought you could communicate across dimensions through your dreams. I think she knows."

"I know." Tegan pushed her plate back. She'd only eaten a few bites and ignored the look of disapproval she knew Helen was sporting. "But, I wasn't thinking of her tonight."

"Ah, 'Steve' the shoe salesman?" Helen had said it in jest, but the mood in the room made a tangible shift.

Tegan pinned her with her gaze, her green eyes narrowing on her. "Did you intentionally sabotage my dates with him?"

Helen cocked her head slightly, a curious smile pulling at the corners of her lips. "Now why would I do that?"

"Exactly." Tegan raised one eyebrow in question.

"I didn't," her voice softened even as the partial lie formed on her lips. She knew she had been wrong to interfere in her personal life and could at least offer some remorse for the folly. "I'm sorry if it felt like I did."

Tegan shook her head. She knew the apology was a placating one and that Helen never did anything without giving it immense thought. "You did make it clear you didn't want me dating him."

Helen nodded. "And I will always give you my opinion on such matters."

"Mother hen?"

"You need to eat." Helen pointed at her barely touched food while artfully dodging the question.

"I did eat." Tegan picked her plate up and stood.

Helen glanced over the contents. "That hardly counts."

"I'm not hungry." She took her plate into the kitchen and scraped the remains into the slop bucket.

After cleaning up hers and Helen's dishes, Tegan disappeared into her lab. She'd found it was the easiest place, besides her room, to get away from Helen; although she was more likely to come into her room than her office most days. It was probably the biggest drawback to the Sanctuary, the lack of private space. At least at the SGC she could retreat off base to get away, but if she were honest she never really could get away from Janet even before they had moved in together.

She sighed and stared up at the security camera. It was really there for her protection, but at the moment she had a feeling Helen was looking in on her from her own office.

Helen, the one person she wanted to get out of her head every since she'd caught her zoned out yet again at dinner. A penny for her thoughts: she'd pay hundreds to stop those thoughts from entering her mind. Helen's long legs disappearing just above the knee as they ascended into her skirts, the lines of slender neck, the curve of her – Tegan took a deep breath and reached over turning on her computer screen. There had to be something to get her mind off that body. _Ah, the mating habits of the river ratfrog. _"Ewww, that's just ewww!"

Helen found herself pausing when she found Tegan in her lab as she checked the security cameras. It was a bad habit. Recently she found herself searching Tegan out when doing her nightly security checks. Not that they were even necessary with the system alarms Henry had in place. She was rarely disappointed since Tegan slept as little if not less than she did. Tonight, like most nights, she found her tucked away in her office. Except tonight she was staring right at the camera.

Helen shivered, despite knowing that Tegan couldn't see her. She really needed to get over this infatuation of hers, but honestly she couldn't remember if she'd ever felt this way before. Of course she'd been in love, but this – this was different. She was attracted to her on a physical level, but that wasn't all. If it were, the easy answer would be to just screw her and move on. Not that Helen was that kind of woman. No, despite her needs she had never wavered from being a woman.

She watched as Tegan's face was bathed in light from her monitor and wished she had the freedom to fall in love.


	3. Hidden Wounds

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 3  
Hidden Wounds**

Helen had watched Tegan enter her office with only seconds to spare before starting the staff meeting. She was wearing leather flipflops, jeans, and a white oxford button down. She looked tired and Helen wondered if she'd slept at all over the weekend. Unfortunately, Helen had been so busy that she hadn't seen her since Friday night. She hadn't even had time to check in on her via the security cameras.

The meeting had only been in progress for ten minutes when she found herself looking at her again. Not just looking, but studying her. Will was talking about wanting to go to some psychology seminar in DC that he thought would help him be better able to help some of the abnormals they encountered. She interrupted him, "Everything alright? You look flushed."

Will noticed she was staring intently at Tegan. He glanced over and didn't see anything wrong. She was sitting on the couch beside Henry and had her trusty notebook in her lap. "Are you even listening to me?"

"My answer is still no, Will. I can't spare you for a whole week. I'm sorry." She didn't appreciate him continuing to bring the subject up when she had already given him her answer. It continued to anger her even more that he was bringing in up again in the middle of a staff meeting. Normally the staff meetings ran thirty minutes minimum but today she was concerned about Tegan, and there were no other pressing issues to be tended to. "Unless anyone has any questions I think we're done here."

"Nope." Henry looked around the group and stood up as both Tegan and Helen rose.

"I need you to stay for a minute or two." Helen directed the comment at Tegan who looked at Henry.

Henry shook his head and ducked it slightly when he realized Helen had witnessed the silent interaction. He flashed Tegan a sympathetic smile and swiftly moved out the door. Biggie and Kate weren't far behind.

Will hung back looking back and forth between the two women.

"Give us a moment Will." Helen raised her eyebrows at him. Honestly, some days she didn't know if he was that dense or that curious.

"Of course, I've got work to do." He pointed and walked out of the office closing the door as he went.

Helen waited until she heard the heavy door click shut. "Everything alright?"

"Fine." Tegan nodded.

"Really?" She raised a doubtful brow, "You look flushed."

She'd heard her the first time but she had hoped Will had saved her from responding. She dodged Helen's hand as she stepped forward to touch her forehead. "I'm fine."

Helen looked at her curiously. She knew the dance, and she wasn't about to let Tegan waltz around the subject at hand. "We're short a pack of ten-o silk, did you use it?"

"I did." She wished it would be a good enough answer.

"That's odd; I didn't see anything in your charting about needing to suture anyone up." Helen waited for her to explain and when she didn't, she reached up again. "Hold still."

Helen's hand was cool as she first touched her cheek with the back of her fingers and then placed the back of her hand to her forehead.

"You've got a fever."

Tegan shrugged, "It's warm in here."

"Show me." Helen lifted her brow and used the voice she had once reserved for talking to Ashley when she wasn't particularly pleased with her.

Tegan lifted her pant leg to show Helen the dressing she had put over the laceration.

"Sit." Helen pointed to the couch and then to the coffee table in front of it. "Leg up."

Tegan let out a huff of air as she did as she was told. It wasn't like she had a choice.

Helen sat on the edge of the couch beside Tegan and pulled the tape and gauze off. "It's infected."

Tegan looked at the red and slightly puffy laceration. "I haven't gotten around to changing the dressing this morning."

"Two grams of Rocephin IM, and I want to check your white blood count." Helen stood up. "I shouldn't have to give this lecture, not to you. You're a bloody medical doctor."

"And I can take care of myself." Tegan carefully pulled the denim back over the wound and put her foot on the floor.

"By getting gangrene?"

"You're exaggerating."

"Am I?" Helen knew she was, but she was trying to make a point. "You're probably septic and heaven knows what got in that wound."

"I did clean it, you know."

"No, I wouldn't know, since I'm just now finding out about it. When and how did it happen?"

"You know that mission Henry and I went on Friday morning?"

Helen nodded.

"Scooter," that's what Henry had named the purple rubbery guy with yellow feathers on his head. "He threw a crate at me from behind. I think there was a piece of jagged metal sticking out of it. Ruined my favorite pair of jeans."

Helen knew the pair she was referring to, they hugged her curves just right. She shook the smile from her lips and gave her a stern look. "You should have told me. You didn't even put it in your report."

"It was just a scratch."

"Anything that you have to suture closed is not a scratch." She pointed to the leg in question. "That is not a scratch. When was your last tetanus shot?"

"Two years; give or take a couple weeks."

"I want to know anytime you are injured."

Tegan stood up without commenting.

"Infirmary now."

* * *

Before drawing her blood Helen put a thermometer under Tegan's tongue, when she pulled it out she frowned. "102.2"

Tegan shrugged. "I honestly don't feel that hot."

"Well you're getting a dose of Tylenol to go with your Rocephin, just as soon as I check your blood count."  
Tegan grumbled incoherently under her breath as Helen headed to the lab.

When Helen returned she shook her head. "Your white count is normal. High side of normal, but normal."

"I told you it wasn't gangrene." Tegan tried not to smirk.

"I could have sworn you were at least heading for sepsis." Helen looked back at Tegan's chart. She had run the blood through the Coulter counter and then double-checked the count herself. She still didn't fully trust modern machines to do such delicate work properly. Nikola always picked on her for her medieval medical equipment. She assured him it wasn't that old, and while she still had her very first microscope she also had the best electron microscope money could buy.

"It's not that bad." Tegan looked at her leg, which she had put up on the exam table and pulled her jeans' leg up revealing the laceration. "There's no streaking."

Helen looked over her leg again.

"Looks like you jumped the gun." This time Tegan smiled smugly.

Helen ignored her cocky expression; she wasn't going to admit she was wrong. "You still should have informed me and let me do the suturing."

Tegan knew Helen wanted her to at least pretend to be contrite over not coming to her in the first place. "So, no Rocephin?"

"No – Tylenol, topical antibiotic ointment and the day off. I want to change the dressing in the morning and we'll go from there."

"I can change…"

Helen cut her off with a stare.

"Fine, but I don't see any need to take the day off."

"You've got a fever. Your body is obviously fighting something. I'm not going to have to lock you out of the labs am I?"

"No," Tegan sighed. She would let her have this battle. "I've got some reading I can do."

"Rest." Helen suggested firmly.

"That is resting."


	4. Elevator Semantics

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 4  
Elevator Semantics**

When Tegan didn't show up that evening for dinner Helen excused herself halfway through the meal Will had cooked. She went directly to Tegan's room and knocked on the door that stood a couple inches ajar. "Tegan?"

When there was no response she pushed the door open a little more. When she saw the empty unmade bed and a medical journal lying in the floor she knew something wasn't right. Tegan never left the room without making the bed and it was rarer still that anything was ever out of place. Helen stepped in and noticed the light slipping out from under the bathroom door and made her way to it. She tapped on the door with a single knuckle. "Tegan?"

"Go away. Please. I'm fine."

A full second hadn't even passed before she heard Tegan retch and gag as she dry heaved.

"You don't sound fine to me. Let me help you." Helen called through the door before turning the handle and pushing it open.

The whole room was thick with the oppressive smell of vomit. Tegan was sitting on the tile floor with her head pressed against the cool tub edge. Her face was a pale pasty white and she was holding her hair back from her sweaty face. She was in a pair of light blue pajamas and the button down top was half unbuttoned and disheveled on her torso. She leaned forward and gagged as her stomach tried to force up the food she'd eaten three weeks ago suddenly thinking it had become a time machine.

Helen stepped forward and held her hair as it slipped from between Tegan's fingers. Once she slid away from the toilet Helen reached for a washrag and ran it under cool water.

"How long have you been sick?" Helen patted her forehead and cheeks with the cool wet cloth before folding it lengthwise and putting it on the back of her neck.

"My stomach has been upset since about one."

"You should have let me know."

"It's a stomach virus; there's nothing you can do."

Helen knew she had a point. She could give her an antiemetic, but knew it was often best to let the body take care of itself and vomiting was one way for it to shed the virus. "Any other symptoms?"

"My head hurts, a mild dull ache all over, and I had chills about an hour ago. They're gone." She took a deep breath and gagged once.

Helen reached over and flushed the commode relieving some of the smell. When Tegan had gone ten minutes without gagging Helen excused herself for a minute. She came back carrying a pair of cotton sleep shorts and a tank top from Tegan's dresser. "Let's get you into something cooler and less sweaty, shall we?"

Tegan nodded and weakly pushed until she was sitting on the edge of the tub. Helen took the washcloth and ran it under warm water and helped her get cleaned up before she helped Tegan pull the loose pajama top off. She was completely professional as she helped her into the tank top and then helped her change into the sleep shorts she had retrieved as she discretely checked the skin around her bandaged wound for any redness or streaking.

"Let me help you." She held her hand out to Tegan.

"I'm…" Tegan started to stand but stumbled forward. Helen caught her and draped her arm around her neck; she slid her own arm around her back and helped her into the bedroom.

"Coke, ginger ale?" Helen offered after she helped get Tegan settled in bed.

"No." Tegan answered weakly.

"Ok." Helen pulled the chair over from Tegan's desk. "I'm going to stay a while."

"I don't want you to get sick."

"I won't."

"Another benefit of the source blood?" Tegan pulled the fleece blanket from the foot of her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"No." Helen smiled at Tegan's glazed expression. "I'll just be really careful."

Helen cut out the lights leaving the bathroom light on and the door slightly ajar so she could keep a better watch on her charge. Tegan let her head settle into the pillow and stared at Helen with a glassy eyed expression until sleep over took her.

"Hel – Helen."

"I'm right here." Helen stood but realized Tegan's eyes were closed. She was still asleep. She thought it was odd she hadn't called out for Janet, but at the same time she felt relieved.

Tegan slept restlessly the entire night, and with the dawn of a new day her fever broke.

"Good morning." Helen stood up when Tegan sat on the side of the bed.

"You were here all night?" Tegan turned her head lifting it slightly to look up at her.

"I was." Helen nodded.

"You didn't have to stay."

"I know. I wanted to." Helen looked at her watch. "I need to go get ready for a heads of house meeting, but I want you to rest today. Can I get Kate or one of the others to bring you something to eat?"

"I'm not very hungry right now."

Helen pursed her lips and reached for the thermometer on the bedside table. She was concerned the fever and lack of appetite were not related to a virus but rather a raging infection in Tegan's leg.

"I don't have a fever." Tegan's complaints were reassurance that she was feeling better.

Helen pressed the back of her hand on Tegan's forehead, it was cool to the touch. She nodded and put the thermometer back were it had been. "I'll be back to change your dressing after my meeting and we can decide on what to eat for lunch then."

* * *

Tegan's sutures had been out for a week, and the twenty-four hour stomach virus she had was a distant memory. Helen stepped onto the elevator joining her. "Evening."

Tegan nodded at her as she licked her bottom lip.

Helen watched the doors close and turned to Tegan. She knew for a fact the rest of her staff were preoccupied and there was no one checking security footage. Biggie and Kate were starting the midnight feedings. Henry and Will were fast asleep in their beds, which just left them. "I hope you aren't going to your office."

Tegan shook her head. "Roof."

_Roof,_ Helen thought, _I've never done it on the roof before._ She took a deep breath wondering what had gotten into her. Lately she was finding it harder and harder to concentrate around the redhead. It was like the feelings she had had when the nubbins were active, but she'd checked their enclosure that afternoon and everything was normal. Their libidos and pheromone levels were all well within a manageable range.

Tegan reached around her to press the button and Helen caught her hand. Tegan looked down at Helen's fingers holding her and her heart began tripping over itself.

"Are you ok?" Helen asked.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure you don't need a doctor?"

"Need?" Tegan's voice caught in her throat. She needed a lot of things, and right now a cold shower was skyrocketing to the top of that list as Helen's thumb caressed the back of her hand.

Helen felt Tegan tug her hand back.

"Please." Tegan looked down as Helen let go.

"I'm sorry." Helen apologized. "I've made you uncomfortable."

"No." Tegan stepped closer and brushed Helen's hair over her shoulder before leaning her lips to her ear. "You're my boss."

"Is that a problem?" Helen whispered back.

Tegan kissed her ear and pulled back. "You tell me."

Helen panted lightly, trying to remember where it was Tegan said she was heading. "Roof?"

"Yes."

Helen pushed the button without taking her eyes off Tegan's lips. "I could help you sleep."

"You would have me dependant on Twilight if I let you."

"No," Helen shook her head. "No drugs."

When the elevator doors opened Tegan leaned forward and kissed Helen briefly on the cheek. She couldn't be the one to blur the line. "Good night boss."

Helen watched the doors shut; she'd never had anyone turn down her advances before. She wasn't even sure she'd been shot down; there had been something in the way she'd called her boss that even now the memory of it sent a shiver down her spine. She wasn't sure if she could spend another night alone and found herself standing outside Nikola's room moments later.

He pulled the door open having grown tired of hearing her breathe on the other side. "Did you knock?"

"No." Helen looked at him with all the love she'd ever felt for him. "I was just passing by."

He stepped back to allow her entrance.

"It's late."

"You know you are always welcome."


	5. Slice and Dice

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 5**

**Slice and Dice  
**

Tegan had changed out of the black slacks and pale lavender top she'd put on that morning, and into a pair of navy blue scrubs with a long sleeved white cotton top underneath it. It helped to fight the damp chill that hung out in the lower levels of the Sanctuary. She looked over her tray of tools making sure she had everything she needed to complete the pending necropsy Helen had requested she do, after Will found a dead Nubbin during the six o'clock feedings. Satisfied she had everything she would need she picked up her surgical mask and tied it in place followed by her protective eyewear.

She looked up as she heard a shuffling in the doorway to her office. She let the latex of the glove she was donning snap tightly against her wrist. "Will, what can I do for you?"

"Oh." He swallowed and stepped backward looking down quickly at the nubbin before pulling his eyes away. "I'll come back when you're done."

"Are you sure?" She snapped the other glove and grinned behind her mask. She was fully aware of where he stood when it came to watching or taking part in cutting up dead bodies.

"Uh huh." He spun on his heel and made a hasty retreat.

She pushed the sleeves of her undershirt up to her elbows and smiled to herself behind the mask.

She had been working for a little over two hours and was making good time. She had already made the Y incision and removed and examined the lungs and the heart weighing each part and speaking her observations to the voice activated recorder she had set to the side. She followed that by examining the stomach and its contents, and weighing the small and large intestines. Now she leaned over looking at the remarkable gland that was attached to the single kidney of the Nubbin; it was an interesting shade of chartreuse and resembled a wad of freshly chewed bubble gun. She picked her scalpel back up and gently poked at the gland, which immediately exploded sending out a fine mist that spattered Tegan's hair, clothes and exposed flesh.

Tegan stepped back deliberately removing her gloves and tossing them deftly into the biohazard waste bin, her mask quickly followed. She removed her eyewear and dropped them in the sink before scrubbing her arms and hands thoroughly next she cleaned her face scrubbing the light layer of makeup she was wearing off with ease. She dried her face on a brown paper towel that felt like the side of a cardboard box. When she was finished she picked her eye shields up and cleaned them with alcohol. While they finished drying she pulled on a new mask and new gloves.

She had just gotten re-immersed in her work when she heard footfall in the hall. She knew without seeing him that it was Will, she sometimes amazed herself with how easy it was to pick out each of the Sanctuary staff's cadences. Helen Magnus' was the easiest of all; usually stilettoed feet caused her authoritative tempo to carry much further and louder than any of the others. Henry's step was always soft with a sort of slink in his step, and Biggie's was more of a shoeless shuffle. There was often a skip in Kate's step, but Tegan didn't dare mention this for fear it would ruin Kate's rough and tumble attitude, even though they all knew she was soft on the inside. And Will, he reminded her of Daniel, it always sounded like he had his nose in a book even when he didn't; it was halting, like he wasn't concentrating on where he was going and constantly had to readjust his balance with each step. It had taken her a while to get used to it, and not look up expecting to see Daniel standing there with his nose in his research. She looked up as she noticed the footfall stop right in front of her lab instead of carrying on down the hall. "Did you change your mind?"

Will stood there for several seconds with his mouth open and his tongue hanging loosely inside as if he was trying to catch flies.

"Will?"

"Yeah?' He answered with a question off handedly while staring at her breasts.

"I'm still working on this necropsy," she pointed to the nearly gutted body of the Nubbin to make her point.

His eyes drifted down before he raised them to meet hers. He had noticed them before, he was certain, but today there was something enchanting about her odd green eyes. He licked his lips as his breathing became slightly labored. If there wasn't a dead Nubbin in a state of dissection lying between them he would have had to kiss her, although at this point the aching in his groin told him it might escalate from a kiss to something more.

"Will?" She interrupted his thoughts with a perturbed annoyance in her voice.

He glanced down and quickly shifted while wishing he'd opted for looser jeans. "Sorry, I'll come back a little later."

"If it's important…" She let her voice trail off as he retreated down the hall. It wasn't long before she heard another set of footsteps approaching, she sighed in relief that it was Kate and not Will again.

"Hey." Kate appeared in the doorway.

"Hey." Tegan echoed lifting her chin and smiling behind the mask at her.

Kate skipped her way over to Tegan's desk and plopped unceremoniously into the chair. "Still working on Derrick?"

"Uh huh." Tegan turned her head and grabbed the DSLR with Macro lens attached. She focused on the gland that had recently burst and took several pictures.

Kate propped her feet up on Tegan's desk crossing her legs at the ankle. She rested her elbow on the armrest and cradled her chin in her palm while taking in the gentle curve of Tegan's hip. She let her eyes wander over the arc of her ass and licked her lower lip.

Tegan could feel her eyes on her and turned to find Kate sitting there with a glazed expression on her face and a goofy half smile gracing her lips. She put the camera back on the counter before staring back at Kate. "Mind telling me what you're gawking at?"

"Gawking?" Kate lifted her head from her hand and knitted her brow together in confusion. "I wasn't gawking. I was day dreaming."

"About?" Tegan wanted nothing more than to turn back to her work, but she caught the hard to see blush creep up on the dark olive skinned cheeks.

Kate swallowed. She didn't know why she'd let her mind wander there. Sure she was bi and Tegan was hot, but she'd never thought about doing that to her. Even now she couldn't keep her mind from visioning those dripping wet lips surrounded by red curls. Her mouth watered. "Uh, a story Henry told me."

"Care to share?" Tegan turned back to her work.

"No." Kate settled her chin back in her palm and let her eyes roam over Tegan's backside again. "It was, um, a private story."

"Really?" Tegan was bent back over the Nubbin using the scalpel to lift the gland and look under it. Convinced she had documented it well enough she bisected it off the kidney and placed it in a specimen cup for further analysis. She glanced back at Kate to see the same content look on her face; it must have been a good story to keep her quiet. Tegan decided she was happy for small miracles and let the subject go.

She'd been working for about forty minutes when in slunk Henry. "Boss is looking for you."

"Me?" Tegan glanced up well aware that Helen knew exactly where she was and what she was doing.

"Kate." He pointed and noticed she wasn't paying attention. He wasn't even sure she was on the same planet. He said her name a little louder this time. "Kate! Magnus wants you in her office pronto."

Kate grumbled something that sounded like; "What'd I do now?" She dropped her feet to the floor giving Tegan's firm ass one last lustful look before moving past Henry and letting her hand lightly cup the butt cheek closest to her. She mumbled as she walked out of the room, "Sorry."

"What's that?" Henry asked as Tegan removed the kidney.

"I didn't think you liked this sort of thing?" She looked over to see he wasn't even looking at the Nubbin but had his eyes glued to her chest. _What the hell is wrong with everyone today?_ She thought silently. Most days she spent in her lab alone with the only interruption being from someone, usually Biggie around lunchtime, to remind her to eat. Unless of course she was running late for dinner then someone else would come down to drag her out of her cozy little room. Today she was attracting them like dogs attract fleas.

"Yeah I like them." He commented his eyes never straying from their target.

"You like necropsies, nubbins or my breasts?"

Henry blushed and lifted his eyes. "Nubbins dude, I like Nubbins."

She watched as he backed out of the room.

"I'm also supposed to remind you it's lunchtime."

Tegan lifted her eyes to the clock on the wall. She would lose too much time stopping to shower and change before eating. "Yeah, thanks."

He fought to keep his eyes on her face. "You're not going to eat are you?"

"I'm right in the middle of this."

"He's dead, he's not going anywhere."

"Yeah but I want to be done before dinner time, and if I stop I won't."

"Suit yourself." He shook his head. "But don't blame me if Magnus comes down to give you a talking to."

Tegan nodded already immersed back in her work.

This time forty minutes had passed and Tegan had just finished with the rest of the organs in the abdominal cavity and had picked up her bone saw to open up the cranium when in sauntered Nikola Tesla. All she had to see were his shoes to know it was him. She tilted her head up and narrowed her eyes on him. She tried rather unsuccessfully not to growl. "Nikola, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

He grinned and swirled his burgundy wine in its glass and leaned his shoulder against the doorframe while his eyes traveled her body. He had smelled her from his room in the guest quarters and had followed his nose so to speak. "A pleasure?"

"It's called sarcasm, you should be well acquainted with it." She turned the bone saw on and ignored him as she continued with the autopsy. After a good twenty minutes he finally left her to finish up her work without his eyes roving her body.

After examining the brain and finding no abnormalities she was finally done. She twisted her neck releasing a gratifying pop of tension and stretched her back out, now all she wanted was a nice hot shower; but first she had to clean up the remains.

No sooner had she finished bagging the remains for the incinerator then she felt a warm body slide up behind her. She'd been so immersed in her work and hadn't heard anyone come in. She started to turn but instead felt arms slide around her and hands cup her breast tightly. Her eyes flicked to the specimen cup still sitting on the counter and she wondered if that was the gland that secreted the Nubbin pheromone. But why didn't it work on her? Was she immune to it just like she was to Goa'uld blending? Her thoughts were brought back to the person behind her as her breasts were squeezed. It was definitely a male judging from the hardening member that was pressing against her buttocks.

"Will," She breathed out before turning in his arms. "Stop."

He stepped back and blinked looking embarrassed as he stared down at his now empty hands. "I – uh, I'm – I don't…"

She shook her head and picked up the bagged Nubbin. "Can you take care of this for me?"

"Sure." He took the bag she was pushing into his arms and walked out hoping his erection would go away on its own and he wouldn't have to find lotion and another towel like he'd had to do earlier.

Tegan watched him walk out before she moved to the doorway. She looked over the lab making sure everything was in its place before turning out the lights.


	6. The Bite

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 6**

**The Bite  
**

Tegan stepped into the elevator and closed her eyes glad to be getting away from Will. She knew he was embarrassed and rather than assuage his guilt by blaming it on the Nubbin she decided to let him suffer, after all he had just groped her. She took a deep cleansing breath and opened her eyes to see Henry standing there leaning against the door preventing it from closing; his eyes were glued to her chest and a goofy grin was plastered on his lips. She stepped forward and pressed the button for her floor and then stepped back and leaned against back wall of the small elevator the cool glass of the semicircular window bleeding through her scrubs.

"Henry?" He was still gawking at her and she wished she hadn't stripped off her lab coat earlier, at least then there would have been one more layer between her flesh and his wandering eyes. She said his name again and waved her hand in the air. "Henry!"

"Yeah." He shook his head; an appropriate blush crept up his cheeks as he pushed the button for the main level effectively stepping all the way into the elevator as he did so. He stepped toward her and sniffed the air of the small enclosure as the elevator jerked upward.

Tegan eyed him curiously as he settled against the sidewall for the short ride, his blue eyes traveling the length of her body. Thankfully the elevator stopped and the doors opened somehow breaking the spell. Henry turned and looked out into the hallway, "were you getting off here?"

"No, I believe you were." She looked at him curiously.

"Um, yeah – Right." Henry shook his head and stepped off the elevator bumping into Nikola. "Watch where you're going dude."

"Werewolves these days, no manners." Nikola looked at Tegan and gave her a half smile before pressing the same floor she had earlier. The doors closed and the elevator jerked once moving up approximately a level and a half before it shuddered to a stop. Tegan pushed off the wall and stood up a little straighter.

"Uh – everything will be alright." Biggie's voice came over the speaker.

Tegan stepped past Nikola brushing against his chest in the process and pressed the intercom bottom. She rolled her eyes as much for Nikola's benefit as for Biggie's. "Do you see who I'm stuck in here with?"

"Uh – no." Biggie's apologetic voice came through the speaker. "We lost the video feed too."

Nikola turned and grinned at her. "Haven't you forgiven me yet? It's been four months."

She looked at him warily. She really didn't like holding a grudge, but Nikola was never going to be one of her best buds.

"It's ok, I don't bite."

She leaned back against the riveted wall and sighed. "Great, a vampire that doesn't bite."

"Well, maybe just a nibble." Nikola stepped closer. His eyes ran over her body before locking in on the ivory expanse of her slender neck. He could smell her, not just her but her blood. His senses were hyperaware and he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt the need this strong.

"Bat breath." Tegan could smell the remnants of a dark red Merlot on his breath.

"Sunshine." His voice dripping with want, he stepped into her space and she flattened herself against the wall.

The smell was intoxicating. He could see the blood pulsing just below the surface as her heart rate sped up. He leaned in and ran his tongue up her neck sending a shiver down her spine.

"Nikola." Her voice wasn't as strong as she wanted it to be as his hand came up to cup a breast.

"Tell me to stop." He covered her lips with his and when he pulled away she gasped. "So sweet. I just want to taste you."

His eyes went black and she saw the flash of his razor sharp teeth, it jerked her back into reality with a jolt. She stumbled back hitting the intercom button with her hip, "stop!" But he didn't hear her through the ravenous hunger raging in his ears.

Tegan felt the sharp dagger like teeth sink into her neck sending small surges of electricity into her. She whimpered as her knees went weak for a second allowing her hip to slide off the speaker button.

"Nikola!" Helen's 'what the hell are you doing voice' ripped out of the intercom and rang sharply in his ears.

Nikola pulled away tasting the slightest hint of blood on his tongue. He stepped back and straightened his suit jacket as he transformed back. He licked the remaining blood from his lips then turned his head cracking his neck and looked back at Tegan. "I don't know what came over me."

The elevator groaned and trembled wrenching upward as the doors opened to reveal Biggie and Helen.

"Everyone alright?" Biggie looked between them.

Tegan wiped her hand over her neck and looked at the blood adorning her fingers. She could see the concern on Helen's face, and something even deeper still smoldering in her eyes. She wondered why it was so hard to just make the journey from her lab to her quarters. All she wanted was a shower to get the Nubbin remains off her. "I'm fine, it's superficial."

Helen nodded and lifted her eyes to Tegan's. "The Nubbin autopsy?"

"It's done, I need to type up my findings but it's going to have to wait until I get a shower. A gland exploded on me."

"I was on my way to find you." Helen looked at Tegan. "Henry sent me the enclosure readings from when the nubbin died, immediately after he died there was a spike in the pheromone levels."

"Well, that explains a lot." Nikola looked at Tegan. "Blame it on the Nubbins."

"You bit my neck." She growled while Helen looked at them both curiously.

"It's not just a survival instinct." Nikola smirked and sauntered off down the hall before Helen could go off on him.

"You might want to bathe before anyone else tries to jump you." Helen suggested trying not to laugh over the whole situation as she wondered just what else she had endured.

Tegan nodded and headed for the stairs leaving Biggie and Helen behind to try to get the elevator back in proper working order. She had just turned the corner and looked up when she saw Kate making a B line right for her. Tegan let her right hand that had been rubbing the back of her neck drop. "Evening Kate."

Kate grunted once and shoved Tegan into the wall grabbing her wrists and pinning them out to her side against the wall. Tegan realized, as her lips pressed hard against hers, Kate was as strong as she looked maybe even stronger. She tried to move her head away but Kate was persistent and mirrored her movements, while grinding her groin against Tegan's thigh.

She really didn't want to hurt her, but there was a line that had just been crossed. Tegan groaned in frustration and freed her right hand. She grabbed Kate's wrist, twisted and moved flipping her around so her hand was now up between her shoulder blades. Her face and chest were pressed hard against the wall where Tegan had just been. Tegan leaned into her holding her arm steady as Kate panted. "Are you done?"

"I don't – I'm sorry." Kate whispered. "I don't know what happened."

"I do." Tegan let go of her and stepped back.

Kate turned but refused to make eye contact.

"It's Nubbin juice. I did a necropsy and the pheromone gland exploded." She turned away from Kate. "Now if you don't mind, I would love nothing more than to go get in a hot tub of water."

After she'd taken a long bath and showered twice, Tegan found Helen in her office. Her hair was still damp. "Hey."

Helen looked up from the couch still feeling the buzz of Nubbin pheromones as Tegan stood at the opposite end of the couch.

"So, last night, that was – 'blame it on the nubbins'?"

Helen shook her head as her eyes traveled down to Tegan's chest before coming back up to meet her gaze. She licked her lips and stood. "He didn't die until twelve-thirty, and the pheromones weren't released into our breathable air until Will removed him from the enclosure around seven this morning."

"Oh." Tegan had known her own feelings for Helen weren't related to abnormal pheromones, but this information shed new light on Helen.

Helen pointed to the empty end of the couch offering Tegan a seat. "What did the autopsy show?"

Tegan took the proffered seat and waited while Helen readjusted her position before she shook her head. "I didn't find anything abnormal, no tumors, nothing. I did save what I believe is the pheromone gland."

"The one that exploded on you?" Helen tried to keep her eyes from wandering but it was a battle she wasn't winning.

Tegan nodded suddenly feeling the effects of the Nubbin for the first time all day. She wanted nothing more than to lean in and kiss Helen. She was also well aware of what that kiss would lead to.

Helen felt a sudden rush of wetness flood from her core; she shifted and stood straightening her skirt. "If you'll excuse me, it's been a long day I need to shower and curl up with a good book. And I believe you need to eat." She waited for Tegan to nod before heading toward the door in search of a long cold shower. It would be her second in less than twenty-four hours.

Tegan watched her leave before she jumped up and ran into the hall. "Helen."

Nikola almost collided with her, just managing to keep his wine in its glass. "You're too late."

Tegan sighed. "Nubbins."

"Oh please. I've seen you look at her. You're smitten." He stepped into the office and she turned to follow. He cut her off. "A word of advice, you're just as fun as the chase. Once she catches you, she'll use you to fill a void and discard you like a used condom."

Tegan shook her head; she didn't believe Helen was capable of that.

"How many lovers do you suppose she's had over the years?" He answered for her. "More than you can count."

"I doubt that." She clenched her teeth together.

"You don't think she's mounted young William?"

If his words didn't sting so badly she would have slapped him. Hard.

"And whose bed do you think she came to last night?"

"You paint her like the common whore."

"Oh, there is nothing common about Helen Magnus." He smiled as he sipped his wine.

All thoughts of eating vanquished as Tegan turned and walked out rather then try to kill Helen's_ friend _the vampire again.


	7. Out of The Loop

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 7  
Out of the Loop**

Tegan hung back after the staff meeting had ended and everyone else had cleared out. Helen looked up. "Did you need something?"

"Yes." There was a hint of bitterness. Helen wasn't sure if it was in her voice or the way her eyes avoided her. "You told me a few weeks ago I should take a weekend off."

"Yes?"

"I'd like to take this weekend off."

"Fine." Helen knew she'd walk into the lab or Tegan's office Saturday to find her hard at work. The other woman didn't know the meaning of time off.

"Fine? You won't come to me Friday afternoon with some urgent mission?"

"Not unless it's a dire emergency."

Tegan eyed her for a moment. She was certain Helen would come up with something to ruin her plans at the last moment and somehow wrap it in the guise of a 'dire emergency'. But what could she do? She tilted her head in a partial nod. "Thank you."

* * *

"Where's Tegan?" Helen walked into the TV room Friday evening.

"You did give her the weekend off." Will reminded her from his position in the overstuffed armchair.

"I know," Helen frowned lightly. "But I didn't think she'd actually take me up on it."

"Oh, she took you up on it alright." Henry grinned before he thought better of it.

"I swear that guy was a Chippendale." Kate fanned herself with her hand and smiled at the memory. "Where'd she find him anyway, and does he have a brother?"

"Rent a stud." Biggie grunted.

"Actually he's friends with our weapons supplier." Henry watched Helen shift uncomfortably. He knew he should have given her the head's up, but Tegan made him promise not too. He actually thought he was more afraid of the pain Tegan could inflict then the wrath of Helen Magnus; though it was pretty much a coin toss.

"Why is it everyone knows about this but me?" Helen propped her hands on her hips. She hated being left out of the loop.

Will leaned forward; he refused to walk on eggshells around Helen even though he knew she was unhappy with the situation. He also knew exactly where Tegan was coming from in not telling her about her plans. "Maybe because she didn't want her date canceled to fly half way around the world in search of Pegasus."

"Seriously Will?" Helen narrowed her darkening blue eyes on him. "The great winged horses have been extinct since before my time."

"It was just an example." He let out an exasperated sigh, "I could have just as easily said leprechauns."

It wasn't even an hour later when Helen looked up to see Tegan stepping into the doorway of her office. "How was your date?"

"All muscle, no brains." Tegan shrugged tiredly as Helen let her eyes do a quick visual inventory. "I've had more fun watching mold grow."  
"I'd offer you a glass," Helen watched her closely and held up the glass of Sangria she was drinking. "But since you don't drink."

Tegan thought it was a good night to start, but the clock on the mantle chimed announcing it was nine o'clock and the thought of drinking slipped her mind. "I think I'm going to go see if Sally's still awake."

Helen nodded. She continued to stare at the door long after Tegan had gone.

Fifteen minutes passed before Nikola stepped into her line of sight.

"What do you want Nikola?" She was still perturbed at him for biting Tegan, nubbin pheromones or no.

She noticed his slightly panicked expression as he began to speak. "You've got an unconscious protégé in the elevator."

She jumped to her feet immediately, worried about what could have possibly happened to Will. She ran down the corridor and reached the elevator to find the doors were still open and immediately realized it wasn't Will. She looked back at Nikola. "What happened?"

"She was like that when the doors opened." He waved his hand over the prone pale body. "I did check her pulse though."

Helen's fingers had already found her carotid pulse and that's when she noticed the still red bruising around her neck and her right wrist. "Can you help me get her to the infirmary?"

"Of course." He pushed the button for the lower level.

"What happened?" Henry looked up when the elevator doors opened and he saw Helen and Nikola supporting a limp Tegan between them. His trek to find a snack was suddenly forgotten.

"I don't know. Tesla found her in the elevator unconscious." Helen glanced to her neck.

Henry followed her gaze. "I'll check the security footage."

Tesla helped Helen get Tegan onto the bed in the critical care room, and then he stepped out to let her do what she needed to do. Helen examined her neck and noticed the deep purple streaks appearing in the form of a hand. She swallowed the bile and wine concoction that surged up and licked the back of her throat. Had her date done this to her? Helen was certain she would have mentioned it. _Did John…_ she couldn't even finish that thought. Again she was certain Tegan would have mentioned if she had been attacked on the way home.

"Tegan?" She tried to get a response out of her, and even hit her cheek lightly with an open hand a couple times falling back on old practices. "Come on, damn it."

When she didn't respond she removed her prosthetic and took her top and black lace bra off. A quick visual exam of her torso and back showed no further evidence of the attack and Helen had to wonder if it didn't come from within the Sanctuary after she had left her office. Henry would be done reviewing the footage soon and she would have her answer. She placed the cold sticky electrodes of the heart monitor on Tegan's chest and turned the screen on above the bed, normal sinus rhythm. She grabbed a gown and put it on her leaving the rest of Tegan's clothes in place. She took the alligator clip sensor and placed the pulse oximeter on Tegan's index finger and waited for the reading to appear on the monitor. It fluctuated between 97 and 100% before settling on 99.

"I need to start an IV and get some blood." She told her without expecting a response. She heard a mumble and her eyes jumped to Tegan's face. "Tegan? I didn't understand what you said, can you repeat it?"

Helen waited several minutes but Tegan was out again. She turned to the cabinet she found a bag of normal saline and prepped the IV line before tying a tourniquet on Tegan's upper arm and easily finding a vein in the back of her hand. She swiped an alcohol prep over it twice and waited a second before slipping the needle and cannula into the vein with a pop and back-flash of blood. After taping it in place she picked up the vials she would need and pulled the needle out leaving just the cannula behind. She withdrew the required blood for testing before connecting the IV tubing and regulating the rate.

After cleaning up her supplies and tossing the needle in the sharps container she let her eyes wander over the still form. "I'll be back as soon as I take a look at this."

Henry was waiting for her when she came out of the room with the vials of blood in her hand. "How is she?"

"She's resting."

"Did she wake up?" Henry noticed the room was dark except for a small light in the corner.

Helen nodded. "She mumbled something incoherently and was out again. What did you find?"

Henry followed her to the lab. "She wasn't attacked here. She had a seizure in the elevator."

Helen's stomach clinched and flipped as if it was riding a roller coaster with out her consent. She put the blood on the counter. "Can you…"

"Yeah I'll get Biggie to run it." He watched her expression. "Doc, you don't think?"  
"I hope not." She gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head before turning on her heel and heading back to the room Tegan was in. She pulled the privacy curtain in front of the glass blocking them from the view of anyone who might come by. "Tegan?" She turned the overhead lights on and started to pull the sheet down. "I need to…I need to," the second time her voice was strong. She was back in professional mode. "To check you over and get you out of the rest of your clothes."

She lifted the gown and unbuttoned Tegan's jeans as she pulled the zipper down her mind flashed back to when she and Biggie had removed her BDU's not long after she'd first arrived. She slid the thick denim down her hips revealing the black lace bikini cut panties that matched the bra Helen had removed earlier. Despite currently being Dr. Magnus, she was still worried about what she would find as she pulled the waist down to her knees. She let out a breath, her hands moving up and checking her thighs. There was no bruising; nothing to suggest she should do a full exam. She finished pulling her jeans off and re-covered her with a sheet. "Maybe now you'll be a little more comfortable."

When she pulled the curtain back, Henry was standing there expecting the worst. She shook her head and watched him breathe out a sigh of relief. Will and Kate were standing to his right and Nikola had returned with Bigfoot on his left. Helen looked back at Tegan before walking out of the room, "I'll be right back."

"What happened?" Kate asked indicating her own throat with her hand.

"I don't know. She stopped by my office when she got in, but didn't mention anything. I didn't even notice the bruises at the time."

"Do you think her date attacked her?" Will asked as Nikola growled.

Helen looked at Tesla curiously for a brief second before turning her attention back to Will. "I don't want to jump to conclusions." She turned and looked over her shoulder as Tegan thrashed around in the bed. "I need to get back in there."

"No!" Tegan's voice was on the verge of panic when Helen stepped up to the bed.

"Tegan," Helen's voice was calm and steady. She tried again a little louder, "Tegan."

Wild green eyes popped open and she grabbed the side rail pulling herself up.

"It's ok." She reassured her, her voice soft. "It's ok."

Tegan looked around the room frantically. "How'd I get here?"

"Do you know where here is?" Helen put her hand over hers only to have Tegan pull back which only deepened her concern. She was beginning to wonder if she was wrong in not doing a full exam.

Tegan nodded but didn't look up at her. "I'm in the Sanctuary."

"Right." Helen watched her drop back onto the pillows, her hair fanning out as she did. "What do you remember?"

"I'm tired."

"You had a seizure in the elevator."

That explained the fogginess she was experiencing. She closed her eyes and crossed her arm over her chest. Helen took the hint and pulled up a chair to wait it out.


	8. Wanted

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 8**

**Wanted**

Tegan was asleep when Helen heard a light tap on the glass and looked up to see Henry standing there motioning for her to come out. Will was standing a few feet behind him. She let her eyes run over Tegan checking for any problems before walking out to join them.

"What?" She looked at Henry who was doing something on his tablet.

"There's an APB out for someone strongly resembling Tegan." Will explained. "The police are looking for her regarding a murder tonight."

"She didn't kill anyone." Helen shook her head and thought, _at least not without a really good cause._

"Kate caught it on the 11 o'clock news." He continued to explain. "They flashed a video screen shot of her, and a photo of her date who they found dead in the alley."

"Got it." Henry grinned briefly as he pulled up the file. The grin faded. "Oh – that is so not good."

"What?" Helen stepped to his side as he replayed the video they had on file at the precinct.

It was Tegan; there was no question about that. It showed her being dragged by her wrist into the alley behind the bowling lanes by her date. He shoved her to the ground and pulled out his throbbing manhood.

"Oh…" Henry swallowed. He'd actually only caught the very end of the video before and he wasn't at all sure he wanted to see this part.

Will knew he didn't want to see it as he peered over Henry's other shoulder, but it was like watching a train wreck, he just couldn't look away.

Helen swallowed. She hadn't even let her mind go to that place. Forced oral copulation was just as harrowing as any other form of rape.

Tegan looked up at him, and her eyes flashed. It was brief enough that the cops probably assumed it was from passing headlights. Helen had never seen her flash her eyes in fear, but she supposed it was a possibility. Although she noticed Tegan wasn't scared, she was pissed as she pushed herself to her feet. Her date didn't appreciate her not fulfilling his request. He reached out and lifted her by her neck pressing her against the wall.

Helen's insides felt like they were shrinking on themselves as she again questioned if not doing a full sexual assault exam had been the correct choice. Her mind was running through all the things that could happen next, but what actually happened hadn't crossed her mind. She was too busy worrying about Tegan being a victim, and for just a second that's what she was.

Tegan's body went limp and he let her drop, but instead of falling to the ground in a heap like she should have, she landed on her feet, her head snapped up and before her attacker could even think _what the hell,_ she'd punched him. Blood spurted from his broken nose as he curled into a ball, she grabbed him by his hair lowering her face to his.

Her back was to the camera, but Helen was pretty sure she had an idea of what she told him. She was also pretty sure she flashed her glowing eyes at him again, but couldn't be certain. She watched her stand up and look directly at the camera as she walked by.

Henry slid the slider forward by three minutes when a wrist and hand holding a gun appeared in the screen shot. Tegan's attacker looked up, his hand still holding his bleeding nose as an entire clip was emptied into his torso.

"It's not her." Magnus breathed.

"You're sure?" Henry looked at her.

"Positive. First off, she's a much better shot. And secondly, that's a left hand in the flesh."

"How come I missed that?" Henry shook his head.

"You know they won't just take your word for it." Will knew Helen had connections in the police force, but there were only so many murders that could be swept under the rug.

"They would." Helen disagreed. "But I prefer to call in my favors when they are really needed."

"Covering up abnormal stuff." It was more for clarification, though he really didn't need it.

Helen nodded. "After a good night's rest she'll be up to riding down to the precinct and clearing her name. In the meantime I'm going to get them to remove the APB on her."

The next morning Tegan looked out the car window and caught Helen staring at her while talking with the police chief who had taken one look at Tegan's prosthetic and removed her from the suspect list. She had given him and another officer a run down of the night's activities leading up to the alley; she told him she didn't remember anything beyond that point. The chief had informed them that they were certain the shooter was a woman and the guy had a rap sheet a mile long, which included among other things, gun smuggling, assault and battery, and rape. All Tegan could think was good riddance. She just wanted to forget the whole night.

Helen nodded and shook their hands all the while her eyes remained transfixed on Tegan.

Tegan looked away. What was it Nikola told her? She was 'only as fun as the chase.' She didn't really have a right to be mad at Helen. She didn't really do anything wrong, except come on to her in the elevator and then go to Nikola when she turned her down. But right now it was easier to be mad at Helen then the jerk who tried to take advantage of her and was dead in the morgue.

She jumped lightly as Helen closed the driver's side door. She slid her key in the ignition and turned the engine over. She looked over at Tegan and put her hand on her knee. "Are you ok?"

Tegan stared at Helen's hand for a few seconds before she moved her leg away. "I just want to go home."

"Ok." Helen put her hand on the gearshift and put it in drive before pulling away.

* * *

"There's no evidence of rape." Helen sat across from Will in his office. "Not when I did her exam, and not on the tape."

"He did try to force himself on her." Will spun a marble on his desk. He never liked dealing with sexual assault cases. "And if she hadn't pretended to lose consciousness and broken his nose we both know he would have."

Helen twisted her head uncomfortably.

"I checked out this guy's record, he had a murder-rape charge that the cops liked him for; they just couldn't gather enough evidence to make it stick."

"Lucky for her she can defend herself." Helen sighed. "So you think she just needs time?"

Will nodded, he knew what she was really asking. "I'll talk to her."

"Thank you."

Tegan skipped dinner that night and the staff meeting the next morning.

"Hey." Will stood in the doorway to her office. "Do you have a few minutes?"

She regarded him for a minute; she had honestly expected Helen to come looking for her. "It depends."

"I just wanted to see how Old City's most wanted is doing."

"I'm not wanted anymore Will." She held up her biomechanical hand and did a princess wave with it. "And I'm fine."

"Fine compared to six feet under? Because to me fine isn't not eating and skipping staff meetings."

Her gaze narrowed on him. "Are you my co-worker, my shrink, or my principal?"

"I thought I was your friend."

"You are." She nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Who are you are you avoiding?"

"No one."

"Then come to dinner tonight, or Magnus is going to drag you kicking and screaming."

She reached for the small stack of files waiting for her to chart her findings in and he took the hint and left.


	9. Late Night Dock Run

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 9  
Late Night Dock Run**

Tegan considered skipping dinner, but the thought of lecture time with Helen was enough to make her go endure half an hour of the 'gang's all here.' At least this way it wasn't one on one time, which was better.

Henry had made hamburger stew following the recipe Tegan had given him. He watched her pick at it until it was fit for a toothless toddler to eat, and he wasn't even sure she'd actually taken a single bite. "Is it that bad?"

She glanced up at him and back down unaware of what she had been doing. "No."

"Not hungry?" He asked.

She shook her head as her eyes wandered over to Helen's plate, which was barely touched, and cold. She knew she'd been staring at her through most of dinner and she had been doing her best to not look over. _This is ridiculous what are you, eight?_

She picked her plate up and headed for the kitchen when she felt a hand on her back she spun around to face Kate. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Fine." She felt Kate lifting her plate out of her hand.

"I've got it."

"Thanks."

Tegan spent the rest of the night avoiding the others and the next morning she walked in at the last possible minute and sat on the couch opposite Will.

"Glad you could make it." Helen commented softly. She knew Tegan was professional and she wouldn't let anything get in the way of doing her job. She just wished she could help her through this.

Tegan nodded once while concentrating entirely too hard on removing the cap from her pen. A couple times she noticed herself staring at Helen's legs. As she reprimanded herself silently the last time she saw Helen flick her ankle and realized she was trying to get her attention. She turned her head away and swallowed.

"Does anyone have anything they need to add?" After glancing around the room she closed the binder on her lap and watched everyone stand up. "Tegan, do you have a minute?"

Tegan sank back down onto the couch at stared at the floor.

Helen stood and put her binder on the desk before she crossed the room and closed the door. She then joined Tegan on the couch. "Talk to me."

She inhaled the lavender and citrus from Helen's hair. "There's nothing to talk about."

"You aren't talking to anyone, you're jumpy, and you're withdrawn."

"I'm not jumpy."

Helen put her hand on her knee and Tegan pulled away. "Not jumpy?"

Tegan scooted away. "Look I wasn't – he didn't…"

"But he tried." Helen wanted to hold her so badly it caused her chest to ache.

"And he won't ever be able to try again." She refused to make eye contact.

"That wasn't your fault."

"I didn't say it was." She dug her fingernail into the seam of her jeans. "I'm over it."

"Then why are you avoiding everyone?"

"I'm not avoiding everyone."

"Ah," Helen sighed, "just me then?"

Tegan looked up at her, everything Nikola had said melted into the background when she saw those blue eyes looking at her. "You're my boss."

"Is that a problem?" Helen's brow wrinkled.

"Not at all." Tegan stood up. "There just isn't anything to talk about."

Helen sighed as Tegan walked out of the room.

Two days later Helen found Tegan on the roof, it was after midnight and she'd gone up to get some fresh air. "Don't jump."

Tegan looked over her shoulder from the merlon she'd taken residence on up on the parapet. "Very funny."

Helen stepped up to the edge and looked over. "You know, that probably isn't the safest place for you."

"Probably not." She turned and jumped landing a foot to Helen's right and grinned when Helen gave her an intrigued look. "Better?"

"Much."

"I wouldn't have jumped." Tegan reassured her.

"That's not what I was worried about." Helen looked down again.

"I'm fine." Tegan walked over and looked at the lights of New City and they reflected in the harbor.

"Are you?" Helen followed her with her eyes.

Tegan nodded. She was ready to put it behind her, all of it. "Nothing happened."

Helen watched as she turned to her and smiled softly.

"I'm going to bed."

When sleep didn't come she headed down to her lab.

"Hey, are you busy?"

Tegan looked up to see Henry standing there in a black t-shirt with gray graphics of some band she hadn't heard of and a pair of worn blue jeans. His blue eyes regarded her carefully as she dropped her pen on top of the paperwork she was working on. She glanced briefly at the time on her computer. "Do you need help with the two o'clock feedings?"

"No, Kate's on that. I've got a pick up at the docks and wanted to see if you wanted to ride along since you're still up and all. But I can get the Big Guy."

"No." Tegan stood up and stretched. "Like you said, I'm still up and I could use the change of scenery."

"Alright, I'll meet you in the garage in ten?"

"Yup." Tegan nodded and cut her monitor off.

After Tegan helped Henry load the crate in the back of the van she turned toward the yipping puppy that seemed to have appeared from no where, although there were plenty of hiding places for him to have been in. She bent down and petted his head. "You need to go back to your momma, I bet she's looking for you."

"You ready?" Henry sniffed the air briefly and looked down at the dog. "Dude, you stink."

Tegan stood up and flicked her hands as if to shoo the small puppy away. "Go on home."

He just plopped his butt down and looked at her.

"We are not taking him with us." Henry slammed the doors to the back of the van shut.

"I didn't say we were." Tegan turned and got in the passenger seat. She could see the puppy still sitting there looking lost and lonely, cocking his head to the side in the red glow of their taillights until they turned a corner.


	10. Fleas and Things

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 9  
Fleas and Things**

Tegan was standing in the main lab with Kate, Henry, Biggie and Helen when Will came in carrying a gray dingy lump of fur under one arm and the newspaper and a coffee in the other. "Look at what I found half stuck in the gate."

"It's that dog from last night." Henry looked from the puppy to Tegan as he started to wiggle until he was free falling from Will's grasp.

He landed on the concrete floor with a dull thud and quickly found his feet. He was covered in a thick layer of gray and brown dirt, so thick there was no telling what his coat actually looked like. He turned around in a circle his clear crystal blue eyes taking in the faces looking down at him. When he found the one he was looking for he sprinted over and sat down barking happily at Tegan's feet.

"Looks like she likes you dude." Henry grinned.

Tegan bent down and picked the smelly dog up. "Dude, she's a he."

"How was I supposed to know?" He shrugged.

Tegan held the dog up for him to see. "Because he has a wiener just like you."

Kate didn't even try to hide her amusement as she held her side and laughed hard.

"Flea bag." Biggie grunted down at him.

Tegan wrinkled her nose. "You stink."

"Get him cleaned up and fed, then check him over and make sure he's healthy." Helen ignored the questioning looks from the group as she turned and walked out.

Tegan put him in the sink in her lab and used Dawn to clean the grease and dried on gunk from his fur. After his third soaping up she was sure he was clean, and he no longer smelled like week old garbage, which is what she suspected he'd been eating from the none-to-pleasant-smelling burp he had let out right in her face. "You're actually kind of cute."

He tilted his head sideways, listening to her in earnest as clear blue eyes searched her face. Instead of gray or brown or a combination of the two, he was all white except for one floppy black ear. She dried him off as best as she could and wrapped him in a warm dry towel, holding him close to her chest as she moved him to the island in the center of the room. She grabbed her stethoscope out of the drawer and listened to his lungs and heart before doing lab work and heading with him to find Helen.

"Wow, not at all what I expected him to look like." Helen said as she looked up to see the puppy cradled in Tegan's arms. "Did he check out ok?"

"He did. He looks to be right at nine weeks old. His blood work and stool came back negative for parasites, and I'm pretty sure he's been eating garbage for the last week."

"I want you and Henry to go back to the docks and see if you can find any clues as to where he came from."

"He was most likely a drop off."

"I know." Helen doubted there would be anything to trace the puppy back to its irresponsible owners, but if there was she wanted to know. She hated people who mistreated any living being and if nothing else she would send Biggie to give them a scare or two in the middle of the night. "Take him with you, and you can pick up some supplies and food on the way back."

"Supplies?"

"Leash, collar, bowls, toys, bed."

"You're going to keep him?" Tegan wondered why she was doing all the work.

"No." Helen smiled lightly. "Are you?"

Tegan hadn't even considered the possibility. Her brow furrowed as he looked up at her with questioning eyes. "No."

Helen watched him drop his head dejectedly. "Maybe you should give it some thought; I mean he did follow you home."

Tegan shook her head but didn't completely dismiss the thought.

* * *

"What did you find?" Will was sitting across from Helen's desk and turned toward the doorway when Tegan walked in holding the puppy.

Helen looked up and smiled as the puppy lifted his head and licked Tegan's chin. He really was quite cute now that he was clean.

"Stop that," Tegan chastised without any vigor before turning her attention back to them. "He's a mutt, and he's going to probably be the size of a lab full grown. I was right he had garbage breath. From what Henry and I found back at the docks I'm positive he's been eating garbage for the last week.

"When we got back to last night's location and started poking around he," she indicated the puppy with a tilt of her head. "Started freaking out when I headed to the dumpster. When I looked behind it, I found out why. There was a plain brown cardboard box with four of his littermates who weren't as lucky as he was. They've been dead for a couple days at least."

"That's horrible." Will watched her put him on the floor.

He ran around her legs twice before plopping his little rear right on top of her foot. He looked up at Tegan like she was a god.

"Are you going to keep him?"

"I don't think so." She answered looking at Helen who gave her an unreadable look.

"I still think you should consider it." Helen watched the puppy tilt his head at her.

Tegan watched as he ran on wobbly legs around Helen's desk and sat staring at her for the few minutes it took for her to decide to bend over and lift him onto her lap. Helen scratched his ears. "You're such a cutie."

Tegan turned her head to the door as he started barking, his full attention in that direction.

"I heard there was a dog loose in the Sanctuary and it wasn't Henry." Nikola grinned.

"Well, that's a pro for keeping him." Tegan spoke over the less then annoying puppy bark. "He doesn't like you."

"Oh, now that just hurts my feelings." Nikola tapped his chest once.

"Hush, it's ok." Helen soothed as she rubbed his back.

"Hey," Tegan turned her attention back to the puppy. "I know he can be a jerk and all that, but if you are going to stay here you have to over look his personality flaws."

He continued to bark.

"It's ok." Tegan assured and he immediately stopped barking and jumped off Helen's lap.

"Does that mean you're keeping him?" Helen watched him run back to Tegan, amazed that he stopped barking for her like that.

"I don't know."

"I don't think he's giving you a choice." Will commented as he again sat right on top of her foot.

"Where did he come from anyway?" Nikola looked down at the interesting mutt.

"He followed Tegan and Henry home last night." Helen explained. "Evidently he tracked the van back from the docks."

"Interesting..." Nikola nodded in thought.

* * *

Tegan looked down as the puppy started to stir on the oversized dog bed she'd picked up for him. He looked up at her and whined. "Do you need to go out?"

He wagged his tail causing his whole body to shake. She grinned and reached for the blue leash that was curled up on the corner of her desk. So far he hadn't gone inside the Sanctuary once, granted he'd only been there about forty hours. She wasn't about to let that change.


	11. Stubborn

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 11  
Stubborn**

Over the last week and a half Helen and Tegan seemed to fall back into old habits. Though Tegan was more careful about not getting lost in thought during staff meetings, and whenever she started to feel like she was falling for Helen she only had to recall Nikola's pointed words. The puppy followed her everywhere within the Sanctuary walls, and rarely barked at the other residents with exception of those kept in the SHU. When she had to go out to help pick up supplies or shipments from the docks he would ride with her. The only time he wasn't with her was when she was doing field work or on a mission; during those times he stayed with Biggie or in an empty habitat.

As the routine staff meeting came to an end Helen asked if anyone had anything to add. Tegan waited to see if anyone had anything more important and when no one spoke she did. "I haven't decided if he's going to be a permanent fixture here, but I have decided on a name."

He lifted his head off her foot as she spoke and looked up at her with sleepy puppy eyes.

"He was a really lucky dog to survive being dropped at the docks, and to follow the van all the way back to the Sanctuary with out getting run over, or even eaten by some puppy hungry abnormal. So…"

"Let me guess." Kate wiggled in her seat. "You're going to name him Lucky."

"Not exactly," Tegan grinned. It was so cliché, but really she'd tried to go with another name and nothing else fit. "His name is Fraks, which is…"

"Norwegian for lucky." Helen smiled. She liked it. "He looks like a Fraks."

Fraks looked at Helen as he stretched. He already knew it was his name, and trotted over to her.

* * *

Two days later Henry jogged over to Tegan's bedroom door when he heard Fraks barking up a storm, which was really odd. He never barked more than once or twice when he was around Tegan, and he knew she wasn't out on a mission. With his keen hearing Henry could tell it wasn't his normal bark.

"Tegan?" He knocked on the door and waited thirty seconds with the only response being Fraks incessant barking. He opened the door about nine inches before it hit something soft. _That's not good._ He stuck his head through the opening and looked down to see Tegan's knee was blocking the door's progression. He watched for a few seconds as her body tensed and then relaxed. As her body tensed again he reached down to calm Fraks. "Hey, it's ok."

He pulled his radio from his pocket and held it to his lips. "Doc?"

She could tell from his tone, even over the radio that something wasn't right. "Go ahead Henry."

"I need you in Tegan's room, she's having a seizure."

She didn't say anything but appeared a minute later, slightly winded, to see Henry standing there holding an agitated Fraks in his arms. "He was barking and I came to see what was going on. Her leg is blocking the door."

Helen nodded and looked in. Tegan was no longer seizing. "Tegan?"  
"'m fine." She mumbled.

"Move your leg." Helen told her.

Tegan kicked the door as Fraks squirmed out of Henry's arms and ran in the bedroom afraid the door would close and he'd be stuck outside.

"The other way." Helen watched him run up and start licking Tegan's face.

"Sit." She pulled her leg out of the path of door as Fraks sat. No one understood why he followed her commands, especially at such a young age. If anyone else told him to sit he would look at them as if they were speaking Alienese.

"Tegan?" Helen knelt beside her. "You had a seizure."

"No." She shook her head. "Decided to take a nap on the floor."

"Really?" Helen sighed.

"No." She was too groggy to pick up on the sarcasm. "But I'm fine."

Helen looked around the room and then back at Henry. "When you guys had that scuffle with the Treptopod last night, did she make her eyes glow?"

"No," He looked at Tegan his mind replaying the events. "I don't think so. I mean, there was about twenty minutes where we were separated."

"Did you?" Helen turned her attention back to Tegan.

"What?"

"Make your eyes glow last night?" She repeated the question.

"Maybe." Tegan rolled on her side. She didn't want to think about last night, or anything for that matter.

"How many times have I told you that you need to tell me these things?"

"Too many to count." Tegan mumbled.

"And yet you still don't tell me."

"I have a splinter in my thumb." Tegan threw out for good measure.

Helen wanted to say that was nice. She figured Tegan was trying to change the subject. "How did it get there?"

"Dun know." She shrugged.

"You know I can have your driver's license revoked." Helen warned.

"Then I can't fly your ass half way around the world on a whim."

"I'm going to chalk that up to an electrolyte imbalance." She glanced up at Henry. "I've got it from here."

"Come on boy, let's go for a walk."

Fraks looked from Henry to Tegan.

"I'm fine, go." And with that he trotted out the door with Henry.

"Bed?" Helen asked.

"Mine…" Tegan bit her tongue to keep from saying, _or yours?_

"Infirmary."

"No." Tegan sat up with her back still to Helen.

"I wasn't asking."

"I'm not going anywhere."

The defiance wasn't lost on Helen and she wondered how much of it was post seizure grumpy, how much was electrolyte imbalance and how much was just Tegan's hardhead. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Take your time."

When she returned Tegan was sitting on the side of the bed in a bra and underpants trying to put her lounge pants on like a shirt. "I thought you weren't going anywhere."

"Going to bed." Tegan yawned. "Tired."

"Let me help." Helen took the pants from her and helped her into the shirt.

"You…" Tegan's brow wrinkled.

"What?" Helen prodded.

"Nothing." Tegan was glad she'd caught that one before it slipped out. She realized telling her boss she smells good probably fell under the category of sexual harassment. She inhaled deeply.

Helen held the pants up. "Can you stand?"

"Nope." Tegan fell onto her side and pulled the covers over her naked legs. "Had to crawl here."

"Did you hit your head?" Helen tossed the pants on the foot of the bed and started running her fingers through Tegan's hair.

"Feels go- ouch!" She moved her head away.

"You've got a nice goose egg there." Helen smiled to herself. "I think you managed to give yourself a concussion."

"Sounds 'bout right." Tegan closed her eyes.

She reached forward and felt the side of her head again trying to gauge just how big the bump was.

"Would you stop it?" Tegan's eyes snapped open and she growled.

"I was just trying to check your head out." Helen straightened her back and frowned down at Tegan while searching her pocket for the penlight she'd slipped in it earlier. "Were you dizzy when you got up?"

"Never made it up." Tegan pulled her biomechanical arm off and rolled over pulling the covers up to her neck.

"I need to get blood and do a neuro check."

"No light." Tegan closed her eyes tightly reminding Helen of a child trying to block out visions of an imagined monster in the closet.

"It's part of the neuro check." Helen reminded her. "Sorry."

"No you're not."

"You're right." Helen agreed with her. "If you'd just told me that you'd made your eyes glow I could have given you an oral potassium supplement and we wouldn't be having this discussion."  
"Where's Fraks?" Tegan lifted her head and looked around. "Fraks?"

"He's out side with Henry. Remember?"

"Yeah." Tegan looked up at Helen. "What are you doing here?"

"Tegan?"

She sat up and threw the covers back. "I don't…"

Helen saw it coming, but before she could step back Tegan projectile vomited all over her new stilettos.

* * *

When she woke up she was in an infirmary bed with Fraks curled up under her arm and his chin resting on her chest.

"You're keeping the dog." Helen was sitting in a chair beside the bed with a book in her lap. She had changed into scrubs, tennis shoes and a lab coat.

"Maybe I don't…" Tegan paused as he scooted up and licked her chin.

"If you were going to give him up you would have done it by now. Besides he chose you, and if it hadn't been for him barking no one would have known you were having a seizure today."

"And that would have been a bad thing because?"

Helen gave her a look that dared her to go there.

"Fine, he's staying." It wasn't like she could give him up now anyway. She looked at Helen's attire. "I – uh, sorry."

"It's better than some things I've encountered. How's your head feeling?"  
"Like there's an episode of monkeys go wild with jack hammers being filmed live inside my skull."

Helen held up a bottle of potassium pills. "I want you to take them prophylactically starting tomorrow."

Tegan sighed.

"I know you're hardheaded, and I know you don't want to take it. But please don't make me treat you like a child."

Tegan looked at the IV running into the back of her hand. She wanted to argue with Helen. Say something smart. Pick a fight.

"You take them and I'll let you keep your license."

Tegan glared at her, but it was clear Helen wasn't going to back down.

"You're getting another potassium bolus after that one."

"Can't I just eat a banana a day or something?"

"We'll revisit the issue in a month." Helen shook the pills. "Until then."

Tegan closed her eyes and a grin pulled at her lips. She knew what she wanted to do right that minute. She wanted to rip the IV out of her hand and go ride the Ducauti. Push its engine to the limits. To feel it tremble and vibrate beneath her. It was such a rush, and it had been so long since she'd done anything that reckless.

"What?" Helen put her hand on Tegan's leg.

Even through the sheet and bedspread Tegan could make out everyone of Helen's fingers. "Are you going to stay?"

Helen watched her open her eyes. A curious green dance shifted in her irises. Something in them made her feel like she couldn't abandon her. "I won't leave." She watched a mix of disappointment and relief flood through her face at the same time.


	12. Workaholic

**Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:**  
**Nubbin Juice 12**  
**Workaholic**

"Hey." Will walked into Tegan's office to find her sitting behind her desk with one heel propped up on it and the other leg resting on top of her ankle. "Are you busy?"

She shook her head and licked the corner of her mouth.

Will watched the sliver of pink slip out and back in. He took a deep breath and pulled his eyes up to hers. "You missed dinner tonight."

"I heard you were cooking." She looked up from the book she'd been immersed in. Something old with anatomical sketches in it from what he could see.

"Very funny." He offered her a sarcastic grin before growing serious. "Magnus is concerned."

"Because I skipped dinner?"

"Because you stay locked away down here all the time."

"If you'll recall I was standing next to you last night in the warehouse when Kate shot you with that stray tranq."

He rubbed his hand over the bruise on his hip at the memory. "You know what I mean."

"Just because I don't play 'Mortal Combat' with Biggie on the big screen doesn't mean I'm depressed." She gave him a pointed look. "I'm perfectly happy catching up on medical journals and reading dusty books."

He'd seen how she tended to choose a book: the dustier the better. "Still you need to get out and..."

"And what?"

"Smell something besides the stale air coming from those books." He watched her look down at Fraks. He waved his hand at the dog and then over her desk.

"Taking him out doesn't count. I'm just saying you need to do more than work all the time."

"You've had this discussion with Magnus, the workaholic?"

"I have, and to be honest I think she works slightly less than you do. I know she sleeps and eats more."

Tegan shrugged. "I'm fine Dr. Zimmerman."

"See, now I know that was a lie. You just called me doctor."

"It is your title. And 'fine' is a relative term." She reminded him.

"I give up." He shook his head and walked out.

"You're still up." Helen stood in the doorway sometime later and Tegan lifted her eyes blinking several times. Helen smiled at her.

"So are you." Tegan smiled slowly back at her.

"I was on my way to bed when I saw you were still down here." Helen paused as Tegan ran a weary hand through her hair and nodded languidly. "If you keep this up I'm going to have to start making new rules, like a curfew."

"You know how I feel about your rules." Tegan sat up a little straighter in her chair letting the half smile she was sporting fall to the floor. She didn't have problems following them when they made sense.

Helen studied her pale features for a second. "Which is why you keep breaking the dinner one?"

"It's a stupid rule." Tegan sighed quietly.

"Actually it's not and you only skip meals when something is bothering you, so spill."

"'Spill' that is so Will." Tegan put a piece of paper in the book and closed it with a soft slam.

"Seriously, what's on your mind?" Helen leaned against the frame of the door.

Tegan looked into her blue eyes. "Nothing."

"You know you asked me when you started working here the same thing Will asked me."

"No secrets?"

"Exactly." Helen tilted her head slightly. "I would appreciate the same from you."

Tegan nodded as she stood up and yawned. "I'm going to call it a night. Come on Fraks, let's go to bed."

Helen put her hand on Tegan's arm as she started to pass. "Are you ok?"

Tegan nodded. "I am actually."

* * *

A couple evenings later Tegan took the painstakingly prepared tissue sample and mounted it on the slide before placing it carefully on the microscope base. She leaned in blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light being magnified back at them. She twisted the control with measured precision taking the image from blurry to crisp.

"Hmmm." Her brow creased pensively as she reached for a piece of paper and pencil. She glanced back and forth between the two until she was happy with her sketch, or as happy as she could be without letting her perfectionist side take over. She cut the light and as she looked up to stretch her back, she spotted an amused Helen leaning casually against the doorframe.

Helen smiled and pushed off the edge of the opening.

"Spying on me?" She wondered just how long she had been standing there.

"I came to see if you needed help finding the dinning room."

"Unless you moved it, I'm quite capable of finding it." She smiled dryly.

"Really?" In contrast to Tegan's light tone, Helen's was heavy-handed. She knew coming down that this wasn't going to go smoothly, but after watching her working so gracefully she had almost forgotten that fact. "Because I haven't seen you in there at all in the last three days."

"Fine, I'll be right behind you." Tegan attempted to placate her.

"You'll be two steps in front of me." She corrected.

Tegan narrowed her gaze and then gave in. It wasn't worth the argument. "You cooked?"

Helen shook her head. She was more of a connoisseur of food than a chef or even a cook. "I ordered from Stimples."

It was another classy place Tegan had heard of like Alfredo's. There was a three month waiting list and people booked a year in advance for regular holidays and two years for Valentines' Day. Unless of course you were the great Helen Magnus, she could get seated the same day any day of the year.

"Beef Wellington, mash and asparagus."

Tegan fell into step beside Helen in the wide corridor, every few seconds Fraks would run to catch up with them. Tegan had only had Beef Wellington once and she had over cooked it. Of course it wasn't entirely her fault; lithe limber fingers had distracted her. She stepped into the elevator and pushed the thought away.

Helen waited until the doors had closed. "Want to share?"

"Share?" Tegan looked up, all traces of reminiscing gone.

Helen dismissed the question with a twist of her head and a swallow. She so wanted to get beneath the surface of this mysterious woman, and people called her enigmatic.

Tegan ate a couple bites of the gourmet food before pushing it over to Henry who finished it off. It was delicious or she imagined it would have been if she'd had an appetite. She ignored the look of disproval Helen was sending her way.

A couple hours later Helen showed up in Tegan's lab, "Not good enough for you?"

Tegan pulled her head away from the microscope allowing confusion to cloud her features.

"Stimples wasn't good enough for you?"

"You came down here to pick a fight, seriously?" Tegan didn't currently care that Helen was her boss or anything else that made her superior to her.

"No." Helen took a deep breath as Fraks stared at her. He was trying to sleep and their conversation was interfering with his plans. She knew right now wasn't the time to butt heads over Tegan's eating habits, or lack of them. "I need you to go to New Jersey with me tomorrow. I've gotten reports about sightings of some strange biped. No one's actually seen it clearly, so there are differing reports. I want to go check it out."

"When do we leave?"

"We need to leave here at ten, and pack warm clothes. It's snowing there."

Tegan nodded and cut off the microscope. "I'll go pack now."


	13. King Size Bed

** Tegan Chronicles Sanctuary Style 3:  
Nubbin Juice 13  
King Size Bed  
**

Helen looked over at Tegan as the plane taxied onto the runway. It was the first time they had flown together and she looked a little anxious. "Everything alright?"

"I prefer to be the one in the cockpit."

"And people call me a control freak." She smiled and laid her hand over Tegan's. "Relax and enjoy the fact you're getting to fly first class."

"You don't normally splurge, so why now?" She had heard Will and Kate complaining over the fact she was getting to fly first class and not coach. Of course Will preferred coach to Helen's flying any day.

"I thought you could use a little pampering." Helen smiled lightly and patted her hand before moving hers back to her own lap.

Once they landed and picked up the rental Land Rover the pampering was over. They drove straight to the area of the latest sightings and started investigating the area.

"I found some scat." Tegan called over to Helen. "It looks human, and smells recent."

"Bag it; we can get someone from the New York Sanctuary to pick it up in the morning."

"It's fresh." Even after sitting in the day old snow Tegan could feel the warmth as she scooped the specimen into a bag. She knew specimen cups were heavier and didn't pack as well and the few they had needed to be saved for things that would be crushed in a bag, but really _poop in a bag?_ She shook her head and stood up turning quickly to look behind her. She expected to see Helen standing a few feet away from her staring at her, but there was nothing there except a large gray tree. She stared at it for a minute swearing something was off. She blamed it on the long shadows being cast by the setting sun and turned to meet Helen back at the car.

Orange eyes opened and watched her walk away.

Tegan glanced at Helen as she argued with the woman at the check-in desk who swore Helen had reserved a room with a king size bed. "What ever happened to the customer is always right?"

"I'm sorry, you're right ma'am. We must have made a mistake." She typed something into the computer and moved her mouse around clicking it several times. "I'm sorry but all we have available is the honeymoon suite, which is also equipped with a king size bed. I can upgrade you at no charge."

"That won't be necessary." Helen sighed.

"It has a hot tub." The girl clicked something else in the computer.

Helen turned and looked at Tegan who was trying not to yawn. They'd stayed watching for any signs of movement after they had gotten in the car until after nine, then they stopped to eat and drove the hour to the hotel. "We can check with the other hotels in the area, unless you…"

"It's a king size bed." Tegan shrugged. She only took up half of her queen sized mattress back at the Sanctuary.

Helen nodded. "We'll take it."

"You always bunk with staff when you travel?" Tegan looked at the plush carpet in the elevator as they rode to the top floor.

"Usually only in tents, but they only had one room open when I called and I was told it had two double beds." She watched Tegan cover her mouth and yawn. "I didn't think you'd mind, military and all."

"I don't but if I wake you up with nightmares you might." Tegan offered an advanced apology even though she hadn't had a single nightmare since Fraks came into her life. Of course tonight would be the first night that he wasn't sleeping curled up with his head resting on her while she slept.

The next night Tegan leaned against the brushed steel wall of the elevator and rubbed the back of her neck. "How was I supposed to know the tree was going to push me down the embankment?"

"It wasn't a tree." Helen rolled her eyes.

"I thought shape shifters could only take on other animal shapes."

"It wasn't a shape shifter." Helen shook her head. "And it didn't turn into a tree. It was just really good camouflage."

"Yeah, a bipedal chameleon with fangs." She stepped off the elevator onto the top floor and waited for Helen to retrieve her room key card from her pocket.

Helen opened the door and let Tegan in first. "You need to get out of those clothes."

"Yes boss." Tegan sighed. When she'd been pushed down the steep embankment she'd gone head over heels and hit her back on a large jagged rock before finally landing in two feet of slushy wet snow at the bottom. "Sorry we didn't get him."

"It's not important. Being able to observe its behavior and camouflaging ability was well worth the trip. It's obvious they, assuming it's a whole family, can take care of themselves."

"Obviously." Tegan unzipped her black North Face coat and grimaced as she tried to shrug out of it.

Helen stepped up behind her and pulled it off her arms. "Your sweater is soaked."

"Snow got in my coat." She'd been clenching her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering but her temperature was dropping more rapidly and she couldn't stop them from hitting together when she talked. She felt the back edge of the heavy wet cotton being lifted. "I've got it."

"Let me help." Helen continued to pull it up and off her. She put her hand over part of the red mark on that was on Tegan's right flank. Her fingers were cold but felt warm against Tegan's chilled flesh. "In the Jacuzzi."

Tegan looked over her shoulder, her neck muscles already stiffening up.

"I've seen you naked before." Helen reminded her. "Besides I need to check in with the Sanctuary."

"Just keep – your lap-top cam-era turned – away from me." Her speech was stuttered because of her chattering teeth.

"Funny, now go on." Helen pointed to the hot tub.

Helen was still talking to Will when Tegan climbed into her side of the bed in her black watch plaid flannel pajama bottoms and back t-shirt.

"Is that Tegan?"

"Hello Will."

"Hey, how's the back?" He waved.

"What back?"

"Magnus told me."

"Of course she did." Tegan rolled her eyes. "It's fine."

"Uh huh." He bent down and when he stood back up he was holding Fraks. "He misses you."

"Hey buddy." She smiled and he barked twice at the screen.

"So you'll be back tomorrow?" Will asked Helen while still holding Fraks up to see Tegan.

"Our flight is due in at six."

"We'll make sure to kick all the party animals out by then."

"Good night William." Helen reached up and ended the call.

Tegan rolled with her back to Helen and tensed when she heard her put her computer on the nightstand. She had changed into a nightshirt before calling Will. "Roll over on your stomach."

"What?" Tegan mumbled as if she hadn't heard her.

"Do you trust me?" Helen asked.

Instead of answering Tegan moved onto her stomach. She felt the weight on the bed shift and skilled hands began kneading her shoulders.

"Magnus." Tegan started to move away.

"Hush and don't move." There was something harsh about her voice that was in sharp contrast to her caring hands.

Tegan sighed and Helen's hands moved down her back after a few minutes she lifted the back of her shirt before continuing her ministrations.

Tegan had just started to relax when several minutes later Helen's hands slipped under her to massage her breasts. She gasped as the weight on the bed shifted again and Helen's hair cascaded around Tegan's neck mingling with hers.

"All you have to do is say stop." Helen whispered in her ear as she slid her right hand over Tegan's well-defined abdomen.

"You're my boss." Tegan rolled over and stopped Helen's progression by grabbing her hand and pulling it away from her.

"I'm not that kind of boss tonight." Helen freed her hand from Tegan's grasp and pulled her shirt up to reveal firm breasts with perky pink nipples. Helen licked her lips. "You didn't say stop."

"St—" The word strangled in her throat as Helen's warm tongue traced a circle around her left nipple.

Helen lifted her head, an evil grin kissing her lips. "Did you say something?"

"We can't—" Tegan moaned as Helen sucked her other nipple into her mouth.

"Hmmm?" Helen hummed against her skin.

"Stop." It was more of a moan than a command.

Helen sat up and Tegan pulled her shirt back down and looked away. She saw something flash in her eyes and instinctively knew this had nothing to do with Janet. "Because I'm your boss?"

Tegan didn't answer.

"Talk to me." Helen pleaded as she settled back on her legs.

"I'm not here to fill some void."

"Nikola," Helen breathed out roughly. She had heard that one more then once over the years. "He would have you believing I slept with him if you let him."

Tegan looked at her.

"Bloody hell, he told you I slept with him too didn't he?" She didn't wait for an answer, she knew him well enough. "Well I haven't, not once, except maybe in his dreams and I'd rather not think about that. What else did he say?"

"Nothing." Tegan shook her head, it wasn't important. She should have seen it for what it was, Nikola trying to protect Helen in his own sick twisted way. "Besides, you're my boss and I don't… I can't just rush in."

"You don't want to get hurt." Helen understood. She had wrestled enough with her own demons before finally making a decision. "Neither do I and more then likely I will; the joys of longevity. But I'm willing to take that risk." She paused. "Do you know when the last time I fell in love and had sex was?"

Tegan wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Before you were born, and he died too young in a train accident. I've only fallen in love with one other woman." She cupped Tegan's cheek with her hand and caressed her lower lip with her thumb. "I don't take my relationships lightly, and I've never felt about anyone the way I do about you."

She leaned down and kissed Tegan, running her tongue over her lips until Tegan parted them for her. She plunged her tongue into the velvety warmth of her mouth. Helen tangled her fingers in red tresses and pulled Tegan's head back gently as she broke the kiss. She put her lips to Tegan's ear.

"I think you're mature enough to separate this from work." As she talked, her lips moved against her ear as if she was placing small kisses on it. Helen untangled her fingers from Tegan's hair and laid down beside her pulling the covers over them. "You're awfully quite."

"I'm tired." She looked back into deep blue eyes.

Helen nodded and cut the light out plunging them into darkness.


End file.
